


Who Wants to Live Forever Anyway?

by I_have_a_Mycroft_of_my_very_own



Series: Apples and Ambrosia [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Immortal Alec Lightwood, as soon as I decided to bring the gods into things I was like, oh wait immortality is a thing, this would not leave me alone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 06:05:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14826762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_have_a_Mycroft_of_my_very_own/pseuds/I_have_a_Mycroft_of_my_very_own
Summary: In which Alec stands and says 'I volunteer as tribute' to an eternal life with Magnus.





	Who Wants to Live Forever Anyway?

**Author's Note:**

> So I've been in a massive amount of pain for the last two days, and while I was writing yesterday, my laptop Blue Screen of Deathed me (like do we live in 2018 or what?!?!), and I've been in a pissy mood since, so I'm not actually all that happy with this one, but the idea wouldn't leave me alone. So here. 
> 
> This follows on two years (well the start is one year, the end is two years) from Yeah, I've Been Burning Up Since You Left.

“Do not tell your darling.” Floki tells him, handing him a pouch and a phial of a pinkish-gold liquid, both of which Alec knows are self-replenishing.

“What? Why not?”

“Because it takes a year and three days for your immortality to settle, you miss one day, one dose, and it will not work.”

“Magnus wouldn’t-“

“He would if he thought he was saving you. It is, as always, your choice, but he will sabotage your endeavours in the mistaken belief that he’s keeping you safe. Just as you would do for him.”

“He’d talk to me about it first.”

“Yes, and then if you are lucky, he will allow you to continue with the ritual. If he doesn’t, he’ll assume he knows better, and interfere. But, like I said, it’s your choice.” Floki tells him, forming a portal behind Alec.

“Why would he-?”

“There is always a price to these things. You said you’d give anything to have forever with him. Does that include being a Shadowhunter?” Floki asks, before he’s nudging Alec through the portal with his magic. Alec considers it, standing in the hallway outside the loft, and after a while he makes his decision.

He doesn’t tell Magnus.

* * *

For a year and three days, every morning he eats a golden apple when he rolls out of bed, and every evening he drinks a glass of Ambrosia before going to sleep. It’s not hard to keep it from Magnus, who is a late riser, and Alec is the first one to bed, barring any long nights at the Institute. Once every week, Floki whisks him away to ancient temples, or their ruins, and Alec pays tributes to the Norse and Greek gods, for their favour.

At the Institute, he puts measures in place for Jace and Clary to take over when he can no longer be a Shadowhunter, he would have put things in place for Izzy but she’s enjoying overseeing the armoury. So, a year and three days after he begins the Ritual for Immortality, he calls Jace and Clary into his office and hands them the reins.

“Alec-“ Jace tries to protest, but Alec isn’t having any of it.

“I need you both to do this for me. There’s a change coming in my life that’s going to make it impossible for me to be here.” Alec explains, rolling his stele in his hands. “I need to know that the Institute is in good hands.”

“Of course.” Clary answers, smiling. “We’ll take care of the Institute, you take care of Magnus, okay?” she tells him, and he blinks at her, surprised.

“How did you-?”

“Alec, everyone knows you’d give up anything and everything for Magnus. Whatever change is coming, it’s something to do with him.”

“Oh.” Alec answers, even though he knows he hasn’t tried to hide it that much, he and Magnus have already admitted to themselves what they’d do for each other, so they haven’t even tried to hide it from the world. “Okay, well you know how to contact me, and mom, if you need help.” Alec tells them, clapping Jace on the shoulder before heading out of the office, halfway through the year he’d wrangled a confession out of Magnus that he wanted Alec to move in just as much as Alec wanted to, so all his things have already been moved out of the Institute, and he'd slowly cleared his office out over the last few weeks.

He takes a few minutes to walk through the Institute, consign everything he can to memory, takes himself off the duty roster, and leaves.

When he gets to the loft, it’s empty, as he expected, Magnus is due back midday tomorrow, and Alec can spring his surprise on him then. If it has worked, he’s sure it will, knows he hasn’t missed a single day, knows he’s paid his tributes as required. He knows it’s just a waiting game now.

That night, he takes the final drink of Ambrosia and curls himself up in bed, sleep is quick to claim him. 

* * *

When he wakes up the next morning, he doesn’t feel any different, but when he looks down at his hands, his arms, he sees that his runes have turned golden. He tries to activate his soundless rune with his stele, but nothing happens. Floki said he wouldn’t be a Shadowhunter anymore, he didn’t say Alec wouldn’t still have his runes.

He makes himself get out of bed and inspect himself in Magnus’ ridiculous too-big mirror in the bathroom, there Alec finds something else different about himself.

Over his heart is a new tattoo, it’s not a rune, and the more he looks at it, he thinks it’s two tattoos made into one. A snake wrapped around a flourishing tree, biting its own tail, both are golden, like his runes, but these two symbols glow faintly, where the runes do not. He takes a picture and sends it to Floki accompanied by question marks and a demand for an explanation. It takes Floki ten minutes to reply, by that time, Alec has inspected every other part of his body and confirmed nothing else has changed, so, after wrapping himself in his dressing gown, to keep away the chill, he’s gone back to staring at his new tattoos.

_The Ouroboros, represents the Greeks have acknowledged your request for eternal life, and they’ve granted it. As you reach endings, they will become new beginnings. Yggdrasil, the tree of life, represents the Norse have acknowledged your request for eternal life, and they have granted it, so long as life exists, so too do you._

_Congratulations._

Alec doesn’t reply, instead he gets the stool from Magnus’ dressing table and sits down in front of the mirror, staring at his new tattoos, the evidence that he is now immortal, that he made a request of the gods, and they granted it. The proof that he and Magnus now have forever.

This is how Magnus finds him.

* * *

“Alec? Alexander?” Alec jumps, his eyes snapping away from the mirror, turning his head, he spots Magnus, and a smile splits across his face.

“Magnus.” He says, stepping forward to pull the Warlock into his arms, pressing a kiss to his lips. “I thought you said you’d be home at lunch?”

“I’m actually late.” Magnus replies, frowning at him. “It’s three in the afternoon. I sent you a text.”

“Oh, really?” Alec asks, confused, he hasn’t been sitting here for that long, has he? But he must have been, can’t remember moving. “Well, I’m glad you’re home.”

“Yes, as am I.” Magnus says, absently, tracing his fingers over Alec’s golden deflect rune, and his strength rune, Alec hisses and pulls away as he feels both runes activate. “Alec?” _Something to ask Floki about._ Alec thinks as he readies himself to come clean.

“I’ve kept a secret from you, I understand you’re probably going to be angry, but I couldn’t tell you. Couldn’t risk you not accepting my choice.”

“What did you do?” Magnus asks, and Alec can hear the fear and nervousness in Magnus’ voice, he takes a deep breath in, squares his shoulders.

“I went to visit Floki.”

“Alexander, why would-“

“Shh, let me talk.” Alec says, pressing his finger over Magnus’ mouth, silencing him. “I went to see Floki, I asked him if there was a way I could live forever.” Alec explains, notes the way Magnus flinches. “He told me to go get bit by a vampire and die. But that’s not an option for me for a multitude of personal reasons. So, he gave me other choices.”

“Oh Alexander.” Magnus breathes, reaching out to trace the Yggdrasil and the Ouroboros. “How did you keep this from me? A year and three days, I would have noticed, something, _anything_. How did you make your tributes? You would have needed portals to get to the required hallowed grounds.”

“You come to bed later than I do, and I rise earlier than you do. As for my tributes, Floki and I would organize a time each week, where I could slip away for an hour, unnoticed, to make my tributes, and he’d bring me back. I’m sorry I kept it from you, but he warned me you may not respect my choice and try to interfere.”

“I would have, you can’t know what you’ve given up.” Magnus tells him, horrified. “Alexander-“

“It doesn’t matter, I have made my choice, it was my choice to make, my life to risk. I did this for you, yes, but it was my choice. If I knew you were trying to become mortal for me, I would have tried to stop you. You know that, I know that. So, I didn’t tell you, because the reverse is also true.” Alec explains, unconsciously running his fingers over his new marks.

“Floki and I are going to have words.” Magnus hisses, and Alec snorts.

“Okay, but don’t go getting into a fight with him, he’s like four hundred years your senior. You know he could kick your ass lying down.” Alec admonishes, smiling at the way Magnus pouts at him.

“I could take him.”

“Oh darling, of course you could…” Alec says, seriously, Magnus eyes light up, “If he was drugged out of his mind.” Alec continues, laughs at the way Magnus slumps. “Seriously, he _was_ a Viking. You know he’s one of the Warlocks kept an eye on by the Clave for creating Berserkers, I mean, not that the Clave can even charge him with anything, because he’s older than the Clave, and that was before the Clave existed, but-“

“Fine.” Magnus mutters. “We’ll _just_ talk, and I’ll maybe throw a fireball at him, _maybe_ , because you’re right, he’d totally destroy me.”

“He totally would, also, while you’re there, please ask him why my runes didn’t disappear.” Alec says, looping his arm with Magnus’ and pulling him out of the bathroom, towards the living room and the too comfortable couches.

“You thought they would?” Magnus asks, blinking in surprise when Alec shoves him down on the couch with little fanfare.

“Of course, he warned me I wouldn’t be a Shadowhunter anymore and… well.... runes.“ Alec shrugs, sinking down onto the couch beside Magnus.

“Oh Alexander, you should always get all the information before making a decision when magic is involved. I thought I’d at least taught you that by now.” Magnus exclaims, exasperated. “The gods took your Angelic blood, they had to, to place their gift inside you instead. Raziel’s blood just gets in the way, not enough to stop them, but enough to warp their gift into something uncontrollable, so they took it away.”

“Okay, but then why don’t the runes-?”

“The runes aren’t linked to Raziel. Raziel’s blood gave you the ability to activate them, sure, but they’re not angelic runes. They’re ancient. The written representation of the magic that formed this world, many worlds, in the beginning. The written representation of the oldest magic, magic that only the gods now are truly fluent in. Raziel gifted the Shadowhunters just a miniscule portion of that magic. The gods removed his blood, replaced it with their gift, and in the process, they left their magic behind. You’re not a Shadowhunter anymore, you’re a God Spawn.”

“A what?”

“A God Spawn, granted, not many God Spawn are immortal, but there’s been a few, in time. Mostly God Spawn just ask for greedy things, like wealth, and strength, and beauty. It’s really hard to be granted immortality by the gods, you have to find at least two Immortal Instruments.”

“The apples and the ambrosia.”

“Yes, those are two of the most well-known, there are others. Each calls upon the power of a different pantheon of gods, you must appease both pantheons or your request is denied.”

“So, I could have failed?” Alec asks, surprised, Floki had not mentioned that, but then, Alec should have known. Floki kept calling it his ‘request’ to the gods, requests can be denied.

“Yes. Alexander, we’re going to be having a very heated discussion about this, later.” Magnus tells him, glaring. “I can’t believe…” he trails off, sighs and shakes his head. “Later.”

“Sorry.” Alec tells him, feeling only the smallest amount of regret, how can he feel anything else, when he’s immortal now? When he and Magnus have forever now? “So, how did you activate my runes?”

“I’ve given my body to the gods before, remember? Their magic lingers in me, not enough to be of any real use to me, but enough to activate your runes.” Magnus tells him with a grin. “You don’t need your stele to activate them, either. But we’ll have to teach you exactly how to use the magic, otherwise the runes will just activate on their own when you need them most.”

“Oh, okay. Wait, the gods granted me a favour, didn’t they? Why didn’t I have to offer my body up, like you did?”

“Because you offered them tributes throughout the year instead, which is the only reason I’m not currently trying to get myself killed by beating Floki’s face in.” Magnus explains, succinctly. “Instead of offering the tributes, you could have eaten the apples, and drunk the ambrosia for the year and three days, and then offered your body as the final tribute, one of the gods would have run around as you for a bit, then left your newly immortal self behind. This is why you need to ask questions before signing your soul away, my dear.”

“Could you have-?”

“No. A god would have had to go to Asmodeus and take my magic from him, to return it to me. For that alone, they would have accepted nothing less than my body.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, but we’re not even going to talk about that anymore, because you’re never going to do something like this again.”

“You don’t actually get to make that choice for me, but I promise I’ll talk to you about it in future before I make any decisions.” Alec promises, Magnus sighs beside him.

“Okay, and I promise I’ll genuinely think through what you tell me, rather than let my fear take over.”

“Thank you. Now, are you going to go chat with Floki now, or later?”

“Oh, later, I think my Immortal Boyfriend has to make it up to me for keeping a secret for a year and three days.” Magnus tells him, a sly smile on his face.

“Hmm, I think I can manage that.” Alec says, planting kisses along Magnus’ jawline. “But not in the living room.” He whispers into Magnus’ ear, causing Magnus to start laughing.

“Gods, no.” Magnus exclaims, pulling them to their feet. “I swear my wards do _actually_ work.” He promises, tugging Alec towards their bedroom. “Just not against your ridiculous family and their newfound love of breaking and entering.” He says, the door slamming shut behind them.

So began their immortal life together.


End file.
